A Nocturne for Heat
by Lavender and Hay
Summary: Married!Baxley fic. Phyllis comes home from London.


**I was prompted to write this twice, and I ****_finally _****got round to it. Hope you like it. **

"Have I said how much I hate it when her Ladyship goes to London?"

She smiled back at her husband, kissing him on the cheek, squeezing her hand tightly in his.

"You might have done," she replied, "One or two times."

They stood together in the hallway of their little cottage, just where he had met her as she came back through the door. It was evening, the light it the hallway was grey as they moved slowly to embrace each other, and she pressed her lips to his, allowing him to push her hat off.

"I missed you too," she whispered softly, "Very much."

Their hands slipped back together. He turned his head towards the stairs, giving her a questioning look. She smiled, and nodded. They didn't bother to pick up her suitcase.

"Not just yet," she murmured, stopping his hand on the door handle of their bedroom, "What I want is to get clean first, I've been in that car for hours," she explained, "Don't worry," she added at the sight of the momentary flash of uncertainty across his face- had he thought that she hadn't wanted him?- "There's room for both of us."

She smiled at the look on his face, taking his hand in hers and leading him across the hallway, pushing open the door of the bathroom with her other hand.

"You light the fire," she told him, "I'll run the water."

By the time the fire was flickering in the grate, he could feel steam rising from the tub, filling the room. She was unbuttoning the front of her her dress.

"I hate being in the car or the train all day," she murmured, stepping out of her dress and placing it on the chair near the side of the room, "It makes me feel so cooped up."

"I know," he replied, stepping closer towards her, trying to soothe her.

He reached out, touched her face carefully with his thumb.

"If it helps, you're no less beautiful for it," he told her.

She smiled back at him, swiftly pressed a kiss into his palm.

"Take your clothes off and get in the bath," she told him.

The water was hot, almost as if she was trying to purge the uncleanliness out of herself with the heat. They sat at opposite ends, their legs meeting in the middle of the tub. She stretched out languidly, enjoying the look on his face as her foot slipped further and further up his leg. She had untied her hair and it fell into the water, pooling around her shoulders. She let out a quiet sigh, and her eyes fell closed.

"So," he asked her, "How was it?"

"Interesting enough," she told him, "Enough to keep me busy but not too much. Her Ladyship was with Lady Rosamund most of the time so I had time enough to myself. There was only one thing missing."

"What was that?"

"You, of course!" she dragged the tip of her finger ever so slightly through the water so that she splashed him just a little, "Daft man!"

"Ah, well," he sent a soft ripple of water back at her, lapping up at her collarbone, "I would have thought that went without saying."

She grinned at him.

"I missed you so much, Joseph," she told him again, "But her Ladyship was there without his Lordship too, so I didn't feel like I could complain."

"I missed you too," he told her, "I think Mrs Hughes realised. She came and sat with me in the servants' hall a few evenings."

"That was kind," she replied.

"Yes, it was," he agreed, "But it wasn't the same as having you there."

She smiled, sitting forwards a little more, her hair still swirling in the water.

"I should hope not," she told him, feigning sternness.

She had shuffled forwards a little and her legs were bent at the knee, parted around his legs. His hand came to rest gently on her knee cap.

"I love you, Joseph," she told him quietly, "So much."

There were gentle splashing sounds as she moved through the water towards him, cupping his cheek in her hand- she was straddling his waist now- and kissing his lips.

The heat of the water, and the room, and her body, oh her body, were having a profound effect on him, and an acute physical effect too. He could feel her legs pressing down on his arousal. Her mind seemed to move in the same time as his.

"Joseph," she asked him gently, "Do you mind if we make love here?"

"I was rather hoping we would," he managed to reply.

She smiled, leaning in to kiss him again, her hand clasping the back of his head, holding him to her as his hand moved to cup her breast. She was kneeling over him, her knees flat on the bottom of the tub.

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Yes," she replied, leaning in to kiss him again, "Of course."

The heat of her kisses engulfs him. The room is dark but for the firelight, dancing, glistening on her damp skin. He groans out loud as she rocks herself against him, and he sees her smile. He leans forwards, dips his head down to her breast and kisses, earning him an equally satisfying sound. The room is full of heat and gentle moans.

But the heat he thinks he knows before is nothing compared to what he feels when she sinks down over him, and takes him inside her. She makes soothing sounds, in response to the wail he gives, caressing his face tenderly, but also frantically.

"Are you alright?" she asks him quietly, "Do you need us to stop?"

"No!" he gasps, "I need you."

"Alright, my love," she murmurs to him, stroking his hair, moving gently against him, kissing his forehead, whispering again, "Alright."

He loved her. He loved her so much, loved the feel of her hands caressing his tenderly, loved the way the water lapped in little waves between their bodies. But he managed, somehow, to focus for a moment, for long enough to slip his hand between their bodies, to press her at her centre so that she started gasping too, her head tipping back, her hold on his shoulders becoming tighter.

He leant forwards, kissing the column of her throat, and they were both lost.

**Please review if you have the time. **


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